The use of pallets for handling product by means of fork lifts or other mechanical handling devices is well-known. Typically, pallet configurations are rectangular in shape and offer access to transportation of the product along with the pallet. The product is usually secured to the pallet by the product's own weight or by means of strapping the product to the pallet.
The package components, such as containers and straps, are taken off of the pallet leaving only the bottom corrugated tray and the product wrapped typically in laminated bags. The customer typically off-loads the product from the pallet on to a conventional product handling device. Currently the method for loading the product from the pallet to the handling device is a labor intensive manual handling method that costs the customer time and money. Product handling device generally refers to a metal handling structure which supports the product and acts as a supplementary pallet. The product handling device is then transported into the reproduction clean room with vertically stacked sensitive photographic product wrapped typically in laminated bags. The product is then unwrapped one at a time and used to create copies of the original. Sensitive photographic product, such as photographic film, is used by the photographic process printers for the reproduction of photographic negatives. The reproduction of the original is produced in a clean room environment and dirt contamination from the outside environment is not conducive to this operation. For instance, one source of dust particles affecting sensitive product is the paper corrugated containers generally used with prior art packaging systems. Moreover, dirt on the sensitive photographic product is projected to large masses onto the samples. Therefore, because of the clean reproduction environment, the pallet having particulates, such as dirt and other deleterious matter, may not enter the print room. Furthermore, prior art packages for transporting sensitive photographic products are not reusable and are generally quite labor intensive to open. This nonreuseability feature of prior art packaging systems causes more waste to be deposited into the waste stream.
One attempt to solve the aforementioned problem described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,760,915 to Boets et al teaches a pallet system having a light tight package. However, obvious shortcomings of the Boets package are that it does not have a means which would enable it to be transported into a clean room environment and it is not returnable and reusable.
Accordingly, a need exists for an easy to manufacture, simple design and economical, reusable package system and, a method for transporting sensitive photographic product into a substantially contamination free environment.